Sam's Club to Add Stores, Seeks to Double Sales

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club plans to supercharge its expansion by opening about 15 new stores per year going forward and remodeling all of its approximately 600 locations across the country, the warehouse club’s CEO Chris Nicholas said last week. With the boost from those new locations, Sam’s Club aims to double its membership over the next eight-to-10 years, he said at Walmart’s investor day.

Nicholas said he’s confident that demand for Sam’s Club will hold up, even if the economic backdrop gets worse. In fact, he said, the warehouse club’s focus on saving customers money may gain even more relevance.

“In times of plenty, we do well. But in tough times, we do really well,” said Nicholas in an interview with CNBC.

Total Retail's Take: Sam's Club is joining the figurative arms race to keep pace with competitors Costco and BJ's Wholesale Clubs, both of which are also in the midst of expansions. Costco, which has roughly 620 locations in the U.S., expects to open 28 new clubs during its current fiscal year. BJ's announced plans to open 25 to 30 new locations over the next two fiscal years, including in parts of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.

The timing of Sam's Club's announcement is intriguing given the economic uncertainty. However, that uncertainty, as CEO Nicholas pointed out, could stand to benefit Sam's Club (and other retailers like it). There's data to bear that out. Visits to warehouse-club retail chains jumped between March 24 and March 30 — just days before President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs — in a possible sign that shoppers were racing to stock up before those import taxes took hold, according to new data from Placer.ai.

Analysts have said the biggest mass retailers — such as Walmart Inc. (which own's Sam's Club), Costco, and Amazon.com — stand to gain the most in the current economic backdrop, given their size, leverage with suppliers, and ability to keep prices lower.